Class case clears important hurdle

April 16, 2013 – PE&G attorneys Cari Cohorn and Nick Carlin thwarted an attempt by defendant restaurant chain to stall – potentially for years – the firm's clients' class action claims for wage theft and other violations of the California Labor Code. The restaurant chain recently began requiring its employees to sign arbitration agreements, and Ms. Cohorn and Mr. Carlin represent a separate group of employees in arbitration who were similarly deprived of their rights. The restaurant chain argued that all proceedings in the class action (involving plaintiffs who did not sign the arbitration agreement) should halt until after the arbitration is concluded. The firm's attorneys successfully argued to San Francisco Superior Court judge Marla Miller that this was an improper effort to hold the class action hostage and deny the firm's clients access to the justice system. The judge agreed, and permitted the class action to move forward.